I've made some revisions to my origional rough draft and wanted to post these revisions. If anyone has the time to read this I'd greatly appreciate some feedback. All comments and criticism is highly welcomed. Let me know what you think, and I'd like to thank you for visting my blog.
Sonny's Rise to Maturity
Sonny Bravo is the protagonist character in the novel, The Flower by Dagoberto Gilb. His character grows exceptionally throughout the short course of the novel, serving as an example of the struggle boys undergo in adolescence to assert themselves as mature adults. Sonny's character is infatuated with the pursuit of money, this infatuation is inevitably replaced with the discovery of love. It is this discovery that catapults Sonny's character to learn to be selfless, which is a trait that I consider to come with maturity. I have decided to use the reader's response theory in my response to the novel, to explain how Sonny's character has grown throughout the course of the text, and has lived up to my expectations of how a young gentleman should act.
The relationship Sonny has with money changes throughout the course of the novel. During the beginning, Sonny uses the money he's gathered to buy things for himself to fulfill his desires, or to escape undesirable situations. When Sonny first confesses to stealing money he is selfishly interested in its immediate advantages. Sonny confesses, "At first, yeah, I spent it. That's what I thought I took it for" (49). Although Sonny likes spending his money at first, he soon becomes reluctant to spend as much, and tries to save what he has. He realizes that he'd been spending a considerable amount of money after on of the times he goes into his stash and says to himself, "I spent it at the bowling alley on Mrs. Zuniga's food at Alley Cats so I didn't have to eat deer meat or whatever, but now that I might need more, I needed to start getting it somehow, somewhere" (96). Figuring out how to get more, seems to be something Sonny worries about constantly, it seems to me that the cause of this worry might be that he sees having money as something that allows independence. Without the almighty dollar, Sonny would have a hard time developing his autonomy. Up until this point, Sonny only considers money for selfish gain and his own independence; however after encountering Nica, the young girl living in apartment number four, he begins to see how money can be used to help others as well.
I find it interesting that Sonny had actually day dreamed about being in Mexico with Nica in what seems like paradise while he was overhearing Margarito yelling at her for unknowingly babysitting the neighbor's "baby" cat. I find Nica's situation to be truly despairing, and can feel what must of propelled Sonny to make his decision to help Nica run away in this scene where he daydreams, saying: "I could taste the tears like they were in a foggy morning. Maybe because she told me about Veracruz, when she was living near a beach, in a light blue house... wind blowing inside and over her and we were on the soft fuzzy gold couch and she was crying" (217). This seen is very descriptive to me, and resonates powerfully in my mind. This scene is exceptionally beautiful, because it is accentuated by the horrible situation Nica finds herself in apartment number four. Sonny is no doubt in love with Nica, and she changes the way Sonny is for the better.
Nica influences Sonny's life in a positive way, without this positive influence Sonny could of easily gone the other route in terms of his moral development. Sonny ends up giving all of his money to Nica, and buys her a ticket to be reunited with her family in Mexico. This decision is what makes me believe Sonny's life is ultimately moving in a positive direction, and allowed me to see the growth Sonny has made. After Nica and Sonny make it through the riot decimated city, and arrive at the bus depot Nica asks Sonny if he is going with her, and Sonny replies, "Me? With you?" (247). This is the first time Sonny actually considers leaving with Nica as a possibility, which shows that Sonny hadn't been thinking of himself. His decision in helping Nica escape had been an altruistic decision. In helping Nica reunite with her family Sonny succeeds in putting others before himself, even though it could potentially put him in a disadvantage. I considered Sonny's decision at the end of the novel to be a truly selfless act. He used all of the money he had accumulated to help Nica, however he could of easily been egotistical in his decision.
Sonny could of just as easily boarded the bus with Nica. Although I believe Sonny would of been acting selfishly, had he decided to accompany her. If Sonny got on the bus and had gone to Mexico, Sonny would of been escaping his own problems. Going away with Nica would of meant that he would not of had to face the consequences of stealing Cloyd's money, thus he would of been escaping the terms of his actions. He would have also found a way to escape the home he wasn't very fond of. Leaving his home would of meant he'd be leaving Sylvia to face the reactions of Cloyd, which would not have been a responsible or fair course of action for Sonny to place such a burden on his mother. For Nica, the negative effects she was experiencing in living with her step-dad outweighed the positive, and it seemed like she was powerless to change her situation, so the natural transition for her was escape. However it would of been extremely hard for her to escape her situation without Sonny's help. Helping Nica escape her situation, is in my opinion, the greatest act Sonny could of done to grow out of being a selfish adolescent to develop into a responsible adult.
Sonny Bravo has shown tremendous improvement in character throughout the course of The Flowers. Sonny knew the value money had on peoples lives, and choose to use this value to help another attain a better life. Sonny had a compulsive need to steal, however I don't believe he'd been shallow minded to want it. Every child, as well as adult in our society values the significance of money, and Sonny chose to give his away to someone he might never see again. It is this selfless act that shows me how Sonny's character has learned to appreciate the value of a dollar, as well as the value of his own actions. It is this appreciation of value that empowers Sonny to form his own identity, ultimately becoming the person he is meant to become: a gentleman, a good friend, and a good son.
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